


Of Mice and Magic

by TwilightKnight17



Series: Shuake Week 2020 [6]
Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Fluff, Gen, M/M, Magic, Mice, Pre-Relationship, Vampires, Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:13:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27660515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwilightKnight17/pseuds/TwilightKnight17
Summary: Akira Kurusu lives alone out in the countryside, where he can practice his magic without the limits of things like ‘being considerate of his neighbors’ or ‘noise complaints’. But it can get lonely, and a chance encounter with a seemingly-dangerous creature might end up being just what he needs.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira
Series: Shuake Week 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2017159
Comments: 14
Kudos: 126
Collections: ShuAke Week 2020





	Of Mice and Magic

**Author's Note:**

> Nov. 21st, Day 6: ~~Sins~~ || **Partnership** || ~~Per Aspera ad Astra~~

Early evening was the ideal time to sit outside and read his book. Akira had always had a preference for nighttime, not just because he had an affinity for darker magic, but because it was cool and quiet, separated from the stress of the day. He’d picked up a new tome at the farmer’s market the previous week from a traveling hedgewitch, and he was eager to see if any of the spells inside would be useful.

Admittedly, he wasn’t intending to get so absorbed in his book that he didn’t notice his surroundings, but, well… He never saw the figure creeping up on his right side until another body slammed into him and tried to pin him to the tree he’d been sitting against.

“Hey, w-what the hell?!” He flailed, catching a glimpse of messy chestnut hair and wine-red eyes before the person leaned in. There was a sharp pain in his neck and a desperate grip on his arms, and Akira shrugged off the grasping hands as best he could. “What are you doing?!”

There was no answer, and the pain was waning as the stranger’s mouth worked at his neck, his hands settling on Akira’s shoulders instead. As Akira took a deep breath and tried to ground himself, he finally realized what was happening, and awkwardly patted the other on the back. He’d never been grateful to be immune to vampire bites before, but it was coming in handy now.

“You could have just asked,” he admonished quietly. Vampires were dangerous if they were feral, but this one...something about him didn’t _seem_ feral. Just hungry. He was shivering where he was perched on top of Akira's lap, and he wasn’t acting wild or vicious. Just desperate.

Since Akira wasn’t charmed by the bite like normal people, he could push him off before he took too much. So he let the vampire feed, and after a few minutes, nudged him loose from his neck. “Okay, that’s enough. I’d rather not pass out. You really must have been hungry if you jumped me at dusk. It’s not even fully dark.” A quick healing word, and the wound on his neck vanished like it had never been there.

The vampire slid down to puddle in his lap, a smudge of blood on his lips. He looked sleepy, and was making a sort of humming purring noise. Akira knew he probably shouldn’t think that was cute, but he did. It was too late. “Hey, are you just going to lay there?”

There was no verbal response, but the hum changed in pitch, lower and more content. Akira rolled his eyes. “Okay. That’s fine.” He picked up his book from where it had fallen to one side, propping it open on the vampire’s stomach and continuing to read. They stayed like that for a long time, and by the time Akira was halfway through the book and it was too dark to read anymore, the vampire had dozed off.

“You’re weird, you know that?” he told the vampire. After a moment of indecision, he gathered up both bloodsucker and book and headed into the house. He had no idea how long the other was going to be in a food coma, and he really didn’t want the sun to come up and fry him in his front yard. He tucked his strange guest in on the couch, made sure all the curtains were drawn fully over the windows, and went to bed, fairly confident that the vampire wasn’t going to wake up and kill him in his sleep.

***

When he woke up the next morning, he found the vampire poking around the living room, going through his bookshelves and carefully avoiding getting too close to the windows. He had wrapped the blanket around his shoulders over his baggy sweater, and Akira leaned on the doorframe for a minute and watched him before saying, “Good morning.”

The vampire jumped and whipped around to look at him. “...good morning,” he said, warily. “You brought me inside?”

“Yeah.” Akira wandered fully into the room and sat down on the couch. “You seemed pretty out of it; I didn’t want you to burn up out there.”

“I was hungry,” the vampire said, still defensive.

“Kind of an understatement, I think. You’re lucky you grabbed me. You would have drained some normal human,” Akira laughed. “So, can you eat human food? I was going to make toast for breakfast.”

“Magical blood is more hardy,” the vampire mumbled. “We need less of it. But I didn’t know you were a witch when I grabbed you, and by the time I realized, I just wanted to be full again. I… haven’t had anything to eat in a while.” He tentatively walked over to sit on the couch, at the opposite end from Akira. “Regular food isn’t filling, but it tastes good. I like toast.”

“I’ll make some extra, then.” Akira looked him over for a minute. This could be a very good or very bad idea, but he was nothing if not a risk-taker. “Hey, have you ever wanted to be a mouse?”

The vampire stared at him, more confused than anything, and Akira elaborated, “I’m testing a new spell. Consider being my test subject as payback for the meal last night. What do you say? It’s a harmless transformation spell. I can undo it at any time.”

He was clearly thinking it over, and after a moment, he grumbled, “Fine.”

Delighted, Akira went to grab his spellbook. “This isn’t a complicated spell. I just need more practice, really.” He picked out a short wand made of yew for the physical component, using it to trace sigils in midair as he directed his magic at the vampire. There was a faint poof of blue smoke, and when it cleared, a chestnut-colored mouse was sitting atop the couch cushions, looking a bit indignant.

“Oh my god, look at you, you’re adorable.” Akira scooped up the mouse. “You’re the cutest little thing~ ...ow!” He pulled one hand away as the mouse nipped him, but then scratched gently behind his ears and watched with amusement as he dissolved into a puddle in his hand. “You like that, huh?”

All Akira got in response was a tiny squeak, but then the mouse jumped from his hand to his chest and squirmed into his shirt pocket, curling up and getting comfortable. Akira watched him, a little bemused. “I didn’t think you’d like it this much, but okay. You can stay there if you want. Just… Squeak three times when you wanna change back, I guess.”

He got one squeak in acknowledgement, so he set out to make himself breakfast, aware of the slight weight against his chest. He fixed the toast and coffee and got out some jam for himself, then took a seat at his kitchen table, flipping through a book as he ate and occasionally feeding a small piece of toast to the mouse in his pocket. It was cute. When he got up to wash the dishes, he realized the mouse had gone to sleep, and smiled. This vampire was surprisingly soft.

Two hours later, the mouse climbed out of his pocket and squeaked three times, and Akira changed him back to his regular shape. He stood there for a moment, swaying on his feet, looking strangely fragile, and then asked very quietly, “Can I stay?”

“Huh?” That wasn’t what Akira had been expecting.

The vampire swallowed hard. “Can I stay? Here? You can keep testing spells on me, and I won’t feed on you without your permission, I just…” He looked at the floor.

Akira knew he should probably think this over. But at the same time, he really wasn’t worried. So he nodded. “Yeah, you can stay. I’ve got a spare room you can have.”

The vampire’s eyes widened, like he hadn’t expected Akira to agree. “Really?”

“Let’s just say you made an interesting first impression,” Akira teased. “Yes, really. What’s your name, cutie? You haven’t said yet.”

“I’m… Goro,” the vampire said. “I have a backpack; I left it at the edge of the clearing when I, um…”

“Jumped me?”

“Don’t say it like that! But… yes.”

Akira laughed. “That’s fine. I’ll go grab it, and then I just need to move a few things out of the spare room closet, and it’s all yours. Let me know if I need like...better curtains or whatever.”

He headed out into the yard to find the backpack. It took a few minutes; it was so beaten up and stained that it blended in with the underbrush. Akira looked at it, feeling saddened. Goro didn’t seem like he’d had anywhere to live in a long time, if the state of the backpack was any indication. And though Akira was loath to admit it, he was a little lonely living out here on his own, even if it was a better environment for honing his magic than a house in town.

Hopefully this deal they’d made would be good for both of them.

When he made it back into the house, he found Goro looking through the spare room, and he handed off the backpack before going to move the box of old potion bottles from the closet. “It’s not much, but it’s cozy. Are the curtains okay?”

“They’ll work,” Goro said. He set his backpack on the bed, then turned to face Akira. “Thank you. For doing this. Most people want...nothing to do with a vampire.”

“Good thing I’m not most people.” Akira shrugged. “We can work everything else out as we go. Just try to be quiet if you’re running around at night, and let me know ahead of time if you’re getting hungry.”

For the first time since Akira had gotten a good look at him the night before, Goro smiled. “Yeah. We can figure it out.”


End file.
